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Lessons on Sounding Human on Social Media

Posted on 09/23/2013

Posting relatable content in social media attracts a larger audience. Attracting a larger audience means your business grows. And your business growing means, well, good things for everyone.

The key to sounding relatable? Talk like a human. Here’s how:

Talk like you speak. It’s chunkier. It doesn’t flow as much as you’d think. You take breaks. You pause. You breathe. Avoid sounding too polished or robotic. Try to incorporate your personality into your social media posts whenever possible.

Offer a tangible take away. Feel free to mix it up and post an amusing cat video or Buzzfeed article, but for the most part, focus on presenting your audience with something valuable. Present them with a gem—something they’ll be interested in reading and want to share with their friends.

Give them a map. If you’re talking about something that requires explanation, be sure to include an embedded link. Don’t make them Google a phrase (such as the name of a company, event, or person). Make it obvious and easy to understand your message fully.

Include imagery. Social media experts recommend including an image the majority of the time. They typically carry greater weight when it comes to social media ranking algorithms, and people are more likely to interact with photos (retweet, share, like, comment, etc.). People like pictures, plain and simple. They’re more interesting to look at—and thus, we’ll look at them more often. Got it?

Interact. When you have a conversation with someone you (hopefully) allow them to participate. (One way conversations are terribly awkward and uninteresting for the silent party.) Encourage your audience to join in a discussion. Ask a question. Get their feedback.

Tell them what to do. Spell it out. If you want them to comment or participate in some way, then be sure to clearly state how to do so. (i.e.: Click like if you agree and comment if you don’t.)

Be authentic. People can see through insincerity. Post content you think your audience will genuinely enjoy, and you’ll see results. Promise.